A Dragon's Selection

by CartoonNerd12

Chapter 28

Applejack sat on the bed with Winona curled right next her, she stroked Winona's fur as she said softly, "Well, girl… It sure was an interesting experience being here… it wasn't what I thought it was goin' be… And never did I imagine I would've come this close to finding love… I sure hope Rarity will make him happy…" a small tear came down her cheek.

"It's not over yet." said a voice.

She turned to see Spike approaching her.

Applejack gave a confused look, "What do you mean?"

Spike kneeled by her bedside taking her hoof, his expression was hard to read, but whatever he was about to say she knew it would be important.

"It took some convincing but Ember and I managed to talk our father to letting you stay here."

She gasped, "Really?!"

He nodded but his face was serious, "Yes, but here comes the hard part now…"

Her brow lifted up, not sure if she would like this.

"He has made a condition that I make sure I can keep you in check. Which means you're going have to start being obedient toward me and my family."

Her eyes widen at that statement.

He kept speaking, "Believe me, I know that's a tall order for you to fulfill, but that's how it must be for now. Just until Ember finally gets the Bloodstone Scepter. I need to know I can depend on you… Because if I can't… then I'm sorry Applejack… but I'm going to have to go with the other girls still here… Pinkie's already gone, we've talk, she didn't want this and she needs to be at home with her family right now due to her sister disappearing like that… So it comes down to this… Can you do this…? For me?"

She could see the pleading in his eyes, he wanted her to stay and if she was honest with herself, so did she…

Both her heart and head were in sync as she thought.

You can do this for him… I know you can… it'll be tough… but for him… it'll be worth it…

She told him, "Spike… I can't imagine having a life without you… I won't back out of this. I can be there for you…"

He sighed in relief and tears of joy were threatening to escape him. She embraced him as he uttered, "Thank you… Thank you so much…"

A nudge from Winona made her remember something and exclaimed, "Aw, shoot! I told Zecora to tell my family I would be home! But since I'm stayin' after all…"

Spike smirked, "You can always write them a letter telling them so."

She furrowed her brow, "Uh, I thought we were forbidden to write letters during the Selection since the mare chosen has to get used to leaving her family behind and any contact with them would just make it worst?"

He replied with a smug look, "Not if you have magical fire breath that allows the letter to be teleported anywhere you want it to go."

Now she was more confused than ever, "Say what now?"

He chuckled as he explained that Celestia had casted a spell on him allowing him to send and receive letters from long distances and that was surprise he was planning on showing to her before she told him to hold it off. He could see her eyes were lighting up from the gift and some tears were forming.

"So… I can have contact with my family…?" she questioned with a smile.

"Right, and through me, you'll be able to…" he held her hooves.

"You and my family… I was sure I was going to have to choose between ya, but now… Oh, Spike… thank you… thank you so much…" she landed her head on his chest.

He slightly laughed as he stroked her mane, "I said that not ten minutes ago…" then his face turned serious again as he had her face him. "But as much as we've mended our relationship we still have to prove to my family that you can follow orders…"

She sighed, "You're right…"

"Believe me, if I could, I would propose right now, but until my father approves of you it can't happen."

"I understand…"

"In meantime, write that letter to your family so I can send it." he grinned.

She smiled at that.

They lingered on their goodbyes and when Spike had gone, Applejack found some parchment and a quill. She saw Winona heading for the pet bed her maids brought in for her and fell asleep. But as she was beginning to write, someone barged into her room and she was surprised to see it was Spike's cousin.

Garble had this weird smirk on his face when approaching Applejack, and she quickly braced herself. With a dubious tone in her voice, she asked, "Can I help you with something, your highness?"

"You can help by getting out of this place…" he smirked evilly.

Her brow slightly furrowed as she asked, "And why would I want to do that?"

Garble stated, "For several reasons. You're nothing but a useless pony who's too strong for her good, which is why it makes sense that my cousin would chose you since he needs someone to fight his battles for him. He really is a spineless twit."

Her eyes widen from his words and she angrily shouted, "Don't you dare talk about Spike like that! He's not a spineless twit! The way he saved me from those Timberwolves took great courage and he got hurt because of that!"

"Yet you were the reason he got hurt at all and that's what makes him stupid for going after you." he kept smirking.

Applejack didn't argue back. She still blamed herself for what happen to Spike.

Garble kept going, "You may have him honored bound to repay you back but there's no way he'll be able to keep you under control. Ever since I got here I've seen how you mares interact with each other. At least the others can keep in place, you however seem to stand out with your brash behavior. Not only that but your looks are average with your freckles, greasy hair, and that old hat you're wearing."

Applejack gritted her teeth.

"Had it been up to me, I would have made sure you were out those doors on the first day or better yet…" he menacingly grinned down to her, "I would've had a little fun…"

That line made her shiver. She had a inkling on what he had meant by a little fun…

"Yeah, I say you're pretty lucky the twerp got to do this instead of me. At first it was suppose to be me but then Ember's mom had another egg, which was actually weird."

That intrigued her, "How so?"

"Aunt Magma was supposedly too sick to lay another egg but that rumor was proven false afterwards when the squirt arrived, but it still doesn't make sense to me how the twerp looks nothing like the rest of our mighty family."

That intrigued Applejack further.

So Spike doesn't look anything like his family?

Of course now that she thought about it, whenever she saw Spike with Ember and Garble, he really didn't look anything like them!

Whoa… okay that is very strange… But I'm going to have to look into that later, right now, there's a varmint in my room even if he is royalty and I won't let him bully me into giving up on Spike!

She paid attention to the dragon standing in front of her.

Garble said with a dark grimace, "So I'm going to give you a warning… If you don't leave within the next couple of weeks, there's going to be hell to pay…" he showed off his sharp fangs.

Applejack declared as she stood her ground, "I don't think so, you scaly mass of cow cud. Spike means a lot to me and I ain't goin' let you tell me otherwise!"

Garble kept scowling until his face softened and he gave off a creepy smirk, "Uh, looks like this will be easier than I thought…" he started for the door, "I don't need you to leave on your own accord, instead my cousin will have no choice but to kick you out because you can't hold your tongue!" he laughed as he went out.

Applejack was hit with sudden awareness on how she been acting.

Hoo doggy, this is goin' be harder than I thought…

She went toward her balcony to get some fresh air when her maids came back in. Coco saw her and asked, "Is everything alright, Applejack?"

The cowgirl turned back to her with a smile, "Everything's fine, in fact it's better than fine… Because I ain't foolin' around no more… I want that dragon as my husband and by golly, I'm goin' fight for him!"

Her maids let out excellent squeals with Night Gilder proclaiming, "And we'll help!"

Applejack beam at them, she figured with these gals by her side she's got a good shot at winning this.

---

"Okay, I get why you're keeping the others, but why are you keeping Fluttershy around?" Discord had to ask the drake in his room. "I mean, you told me yourself how you don't have an intimate relationship with her and that she was just a great friend, so why haven't you dismissed her?"

Spike looked up to him with a smirk, "Isn't it obvious? I'm keeping her around for you, dude."

Discord's mouth literally dropped to the ground before he sputtered, "What?! But-but-but…"

Spike rolled his eyes, "Come on, Discord, your crush on her is so obvious…"

The spirit said indignantly, "Well of course it is! That's why I want you to eliminate her so I can visit her myself when she's at home! I can't very well put the moves on her while she's in the Selection now can I?! We'll end up like Twilight and that other guy!"

Spike protested, "But you have powers! You can easily handle any punishment they would give you!"

He sarcastically points out, "Congratulations, you just started another war between ponies and dragons." he sighed, "Look, after the Great Fire War, Cay-Cay, Lulu, and I were magically sworn to never mess with the dragon prince's choosing during the Selection. And since Fluttershy is still an official contestant, I can't touch her, literally and metaphorically."

Spike's eyes widen and uttered, "Wow… I'm sorry, I had no idea… But I had to send Pinkie home, she told me she didn't see us having a future together and frankly either did I, and on top of that, her sister went missing. So I have to keep Fluttershy around just a little bit longer."

Discord groaned and laid on the floor as he moaned, "Ever since Nightmare Night, she and I gained a friendship." he summoned a daisy and started plucking at it, "Whenever we see each other in the castle, we take a few moments to talk, to laugh… We even started having tea every Tuesday just to spend more time together…" he sighed heavily with big eyes, "She's an angel…"

Spike got up from his bed, and patted Discord's head, "Hang in there, pal… I just need time for Applejack to get Father's approval. Once we have it, I'll release the other girls and you and Fluttershy will be free to do whatever you want."

Author's Note:

Keep those reviews coming, and honestly it surprises me how there's a lack of shock of Maud being taken. I thought for sure there would be some guesses as to why that is. You can still give out theories if you like, because I would love to hear them.

Comments

[Hillbe]

She what?
She found that goofy statue thingy you all are fighting about
Where is the statue now?

up Garbles butt

Wrecked em damn near killed him!

Maud was always a tough one

[MySisterBroughtMeHere]

The reason why I'm not that worried about Maud being taken is that her unique personality will very likely drive her captors up the wall and they'll let her go of their own accord.

Discord, your crush on her is so obvious

. Boy, is that an understatement.

I wonder how Torch will react when he finds out Garble has been directly interfering rather than advising with the Selection... (evil smile).

[CartoonNerd12]

8189657 I never thought of it that way. You make very interesting points.